Service sector quickest to embrace gig economy in India

The preference for flexible work arrangements has gone up, helping employers cut costs and employees work more conveniently.

More people have been observed to be shifting towards a gig economy, which is growing fast due to the shift in peoples’ preference for job flexibility. A study by Indeed has revealed that in India, the service sector is embracing the gig economy fastest.

With a preference for freelancing increasing in the country, more companies are offering contractual and flexible opportunities to people.

Indeed’s data reveals that 7.7 per cent of the companies posting on the Indeed platform in India are offering flexible work opportunities. Also, 2.8 per cent of these job postings are for part-time or contractual roles.

The service sector leads in terms of job flexibility offering, the data reveals. The job of examiners offers the most flexible work arrangement —in 75.2 per cent of all job postings.

The data collected indicates a seasonal trend in contractual hiring in the service sector. Towards the end of the year, there is an increase in jobs of contractual nature, while at other times they remain low. In the months of November and February, the percentage of part-time job opportunities rises from an average of five to 10 per cent, to a yearly high of 20 to 25 per cent.

Some of the other top sectors offering job flexibility are media, real estate, legal, hospitality, tech help, management, medicine, education and allied. There is a rise in demand for data entry clerks in part-time opportunities—16.9 per cent of all job postings on the site.

Indeed data suggests that out of all jobs posted on the site, the following job profiles offer maximum work flexibility across sectors:

Commenting on the findings, Sashi Kumar, managing director, Indeed India said, “Employees are increasingly willing to sacrifice the additional benefits that come with a permanent job, such as gratuity or health insurance, in exchange for a greater amount of flexibility that allows them a healthy work–life balance, and the opportunity to simultaneously pursue multiple interests.”

The data also reveals that demand for flexible work arrangement is increasing in larger cities, due to time-consuming daily commute. New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore contribute 27.2 , 12.4 and 12.9 per cent, respectively to all flexible work opportunities available in India. Surprisingly, 93 per cent of all jobs posted in the Greater Noida region are of a flexible or part-time nature, as per the research.

Today more employees prefer flexible work arrangements, and companies are also trying to accommodate their preferences. The advancement in technology is not only helping employees work from home, but also offering companies ways to monitor them.

Most importantly, the contractual arrangement is helping employers cut costs significantly, as they need not hire full-time employees, where the cost of acquisition is high.